A newly-released audit of the city’s tax allocation districts has three recommendations for the city as it plans to extend the TADs — and they’re all about transparency.
It’s the latest in Atlanta’s ongoing TAD saga. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has spent months on a full-court press to renew six of the city’s eight tax allocation districts for the next 30 years, to pay for a multibillion-dollar investment into the underserved communities.
Nonprofits like the Center for Civic Innovation urged Atlanta City Council to delay any votes on the proposal until the audit results were released. Now, they’re available to the public and city leaders are pushing ahead.
“We think the TADs remain one of Atlanta’s most important economic development tools,” Invest Atlanta President Dr. Eloisa Klementich said.
She stressed there are no findings of fraud or misuse, and the audit declared the city had made progress since 2012. “They’re asking us to enhance our reporting, our metrics, so that people are clear on the impact of what the TAD can do,” she said.
Klementich laid out three recommendations from the comprehensive audit: Consistency and measurability, aligning project-level and overall reporting and accessible tools for the public. Currently, the redevelopment plan uses vague wording for its goals: “provide more affordable housing, create vibrancy, community vitality.”
“The auditor said, ‘We want you to create new redevelopment plans that are much more specific,’” Klemetich said.
The audit recommended measurable outcomes from the outset — set housing goals and big numbers, potentially neighborhood-specific Area Median Incomes.
Klementich said the second recommendation focused on third-party consultants. The audit pushed for alignment between projects and the redevelopment plan to ensure every dollar spent ties directly to the broader goal.
The third request is simple: accessible reporting tools for stakeholders and the public. Klementich said Invest Atlanta is already working on all three. The agency plans to add a “one-stop shop” website page with all information on the TADs, including an active map of the districts and performance reports.
“We accept all three of these recommendations and are starting to act on them immediately,” Klementich said. “Implementation is already underway.”
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